Time seems to pass so quickly. We can hardly believe that it is 3 months since we last sent out a newsletter about Home of Peace.
Here is a brief summary of what has happened since the last newsletter. It has been a busy and an ‘interesting’ time.
APRIL
In April we got a message from Home of Peace telling us that they urgently need all 56 mattresses replaced. Within hours we got another email from a friend who knew nothing about this saying he and his wife felt God wanted them to send us a donation for whatever is urgently needed. The donation (with the attached gift aid) came to just £50 less than the cost of getting 56 good quality mattresses.
They were delivered much to the delight of the children.
God is so good and faithful!
Later in April Home of Peace Children’s Home was advised by the Dept of Health to supply all our children and staff with face masks.
They needed at least 2 each so one can be worn and the other washed.
56 children + 16 staff = 72 people getting 2 each = 144 masks were needed as a minimum. In addition we also supplied masks to all the staff children to protect them as well.
Here are a couple of pictures of them wearing their new masks
The Covid pandemic is naturally making things harder at Home of Peace but to complicate things further it is the rainy season. Not far from Home of Peace between March and April almost 200 people lost their lives to overflowing rivers and mudslides, while 40,000 have been displaced from their homes.
We were OK. But the heavy rain started causing damage to our buildings. Getting under the foundations and even causing the kitchen floor to be damaged. This has happened every year
Samuel, Erick’s brother, who has become one of our Kenyan Trustees has repaired the kitchen and has built a barrier around every building. He did this doing this using rocks collected by our older children and sand and cement. This should make a big difference in the future.
God also provided miraculously provided a gift from a family charity that has allowed us to bring in Kennedy Ochiel a wonderful builder and friend of Home of Peace. He and his team repainted all the dormitories both inside and outside and the kitchen and dining room.
May
Why do we bother?
Running Home of Peace is hard work, exhausting and at times frustrating but this picture is why we do it.
He is 4 years old and his sister is 12 years old.
They and another sibling age 6 months were being brought up by their Mother who died and they were left with nobody.
Our social worker, Faith, managed to get the baby placed in a home that has the facilities for babies while these 2 children were admitted to Home of Peace.
Now they are safe, have a home, food, clothing, medical care, will get an education and have a chance to develop into productive members of society rather than just living on the streets, begging, stealing and in all likelihood dying.
That is why your support matters.
That is why we run Home of Peace
JUNE
Delighted to say that after inspection and examination the registration of Home of Peace has been renewed by the National Council for Children’s Services in Kenya. Registration is subject to renewal every 3 years and is only granted if we pass their careful inspection which we did.
JULY
UPDATE. 8th July
On the 8th of July we were informed by the Kenyan Government that all Kenyan schools are to remain closed until 2021
Education Minister George Magoha said students would repeat a year as schools had closed in mid-March, three months after the school calendar had begun.
Kenya’s academic year runs from January to November.
“The 2020 school calendar year will be considered lost due to Covid-19 restrictions,” Mr Magoha said.
Please join us in praying as this is very difficult for both our staff and our children. The children are restless and therefore their behaviour is not as good as normal. Naturally they are anxious because their studies and potentially their future is in doubt. This is worst for those in their final year of either Primary or Secondary school.
The staff are doing an amazing job and we thank God for them but they are also exhausted from having all the children at the home 24/7
God has been gracious, and nobody attached to Home of Peace has shown any Covid 19 symptoms.
STAFF CHANGES
Erick. Is the man who helped found Home of Peace and he has worked as our Administrator, Purchasing Manager, Driver, part of the leadership team and a trustee since we took over 10 years ago. He is also a gifted preacher and teacher with a calling from God to serve his church, so he is now reducing his Home of Peace time to 3 days a week. During those days he will continue with everything except the Admin and the other 3 days he will be working as a Pastor. (Note his wages for the 3 days he works at the church have been sponsored by people who know his ministry) Please pray that God will bless him in this new and challenging role.
Kevin. Is a friend of Erick’s who helped Erick in the past. For the past 6 months he has been working with Erick as the Assistant Administrator and Reserve Driver in a part-time capacity. He will now take over the Administration full-time and still act as a reserve driver when Erick is not on duty. He is a lovely young married man. Pray for Kevin
Rosemary. Has just joined our team as senior Nurse Aid and our older girl’s House Mother. She replaces Emelda who has now moved on. Rosemary has had a lot of training in children’s work including working in villages advising parents and also guiding them regarding health matters and HIV. She has also worked previously as a voluntary Social Worker. She brings a lot of experience to this position
Erick Ochieng Is our new Nurse Aid, working under Rosemary and is also our older boys House Father. He has had training in Counselling and Children’s Counselling, a Peer Educator, he is qualified in First Aid, HIV management. He comes with many years of practical on the job experience
MOVING FORWARD
God has been so good to us and we know a lot of the blessings are due to the faithful prayers and ongoing support of people like you.
Don’t forget to tell your church, family and friends about this ministry. Encourage them to look at our website (CLICK HERE)
If they are on Facebook to ‘like’ our Facebook page so they can see more regular brief updates. For Facebook (CLICK HERE)
To support the ministry please (CLICK HERE)
God bless you,
Love in Jesus
Marilyn & Ray